Chapter 137: Boy x Bullying x Studying to the Extreme (16)

Chapter 137: Boy x Bullying x Studying to the Extreme (16)

Tang Xinqiang felt like he was in a tight spot with no way out.

Getting rich? Making big money?

Of course, he was willing. He dreamed of rising to prominence, of no longer having to care about what others thought, and of studying for that accounting certificate. But could he really do it?

"Miss Lan," the middle-aged man stammered, lowering his posture inch by inch, "I don't mind if you laugh at me, but I only went to elementary school. This certificate you're talking about... I'm afraid I won't be able to pass it."

Before Lan Yinghua could respond, Wei Caifeng grabbed him and pulled him aside.

The usually timid and self-deprecating woman rarely showed such assertiveness when it came to providing for the family.

"Are you afraid of not being able to learn before you've even started?" she said sharply. "Someone is even covering the cost. This is a path for us to improve ourselves. Are you hesitating now?"

"Tang Xinqiang, are you really going to sell vegetables for the rest of your life? Can't you have some ambition?"

Tang Xinqiang seemed taken aback by his wife's assertiveness and mumbled, "I didn't say I couldn't do it."

"Have you thought it through?" Wei Caifeng said sternly. "Opportunities like this don't come around often. Think carefully!"

Lan Yinghua sipped her wine calmly as the waiters cleaned up the broken glass and brought her the usual cocktail.

"What would Mr. Tang like to drink?"

Tang Xinqiang instinctively turned around, only to realize that the question was respectfully directed at Tang Zhi.

The middle school student thought for a moment, "An orange juice, please."

In just a few minutes, Tang Xinqiang was overwhelmed with humiliation and anxiety, forced to face something he'd always avoided admitting:

He was actually incompetent and weak. Even when opportunities were laid out in front of him, he didn't have the confidence to seize them.

His wife's stance made it clear that she was ready to push for a divorce if he refused. He didn't dare resist any further.

With everyone watching, Tang Xinqiang, with gritted teeth, bowed deeply three times to Lan Yinghua and clearly said, "I'm sorry."

"Miss Lan, I will be more careful with my words from now on and won't say such nonsense again."

Then, reluctantly, he bowed to Tang Zhi, his pride taking a hit.

"Son, I've been too busy these past few days and haven't taken good care of you. Please bear with me."

Lan Yinghua looked at him and asked, "Do you agree to all three conditions?"

Tang Xinqiang hung his head like a disobedient teenager, but Wei Caifeng spoke up first.

"Miss Lan is willing to promote us and give us the opportunity to improve ourselves. We are grateful beyond words."

"We will study hard for that accounting certificate!"

Lan Yinghua continued to look at him. "What about you?"

Tang Xinqiang said, "I will try my best and study hard."

He seemed to gradually understand that this was an opportunity to change his life and added reluctantly, "Thanks, Miss Lan, for giving us this opportunity."

The couple temporarily shut down their vegetable stand and instead started preparing to enroll in an accounting program for serious study.

Both of them hadn't studied properly for many years, and they followed Tang Zhi to purchase the corresponding courses, reporting to the training institution with great caution, as if they were starting over as middle-aged adults.

Tang Xinqiang couldn't contain his excitement. Although he was quite fearful of studying, he felt a sense of honor as if he were attending university. He and his wife each bought a new set of clothes.

Tang Zhi, seeing this, relaxed and sighed in relief.

From Monday onwards, everything was going to be different.

On Saturday, there was a robbery. On Sunday, arrangements were made. On Monday, the societal thugs were still weeping in the police station, but he could still go to school as usual.

Early in the morning, the school looked the same as always, and the students rushed by with hurried steps. The societal thugs who used to smoke at the school gate were nowhere to be seen.

The police, along with officials from the Business Administration Bureau, raided several internet cafes on Sunday and reportedly shut down several illegally operated billiard halls and KTVs.

Several thugs were found using prohibited substances and were taken to the police station for trial.

The dean looked refreshed and greeted Tang Zhi with an enthusiastic smile.

As soon as the boy entered the school, he was quickly recognized, and many students whispered among themselves.

"Did he really send all those people to the police station?"

"I heard that the gang of societal thugs all signed some kind of guarantee agreement. If they don't study well, it's a death sentence!"

"A death sentence?! How did Tang Zhi manage that? Does he have the head of the judicial bureau or the police station at home? It's terrifying!"

The students were all trying to gather information from here and there, looking at Tang Zhi with newfound respect.

The thugs that even Boss Scar couldn't handle were all sent to the police station, and he came out unscathed. It was terrifying!

From now on, the boss of the No.1 High School would be surnamed Tang!

Several classrooms had empty seats, but everyone knew that the absent students were definitely not on sick leave.

All the teachers were smiling and even spoke with a hint of excitement in their voices.

Although the matter hadn't been finalized yet, it was heard that just filling out the grade improvement forms had already made several students cry. Some teachers couldn't hold back and took the opportunity to speak during class.

"Young people should study hard and not get involved in societal nonsense!"

"These societal people only deceive fifteen or sixteen-year-old students. How many adults take them seriously?!"

"Now it's good. If you don't study well, you'll go to jail! Look, this is called immediate retribution!"

The students below the stage eagerly asked for more information: "Do the police also care if people study well for exams?"

"What goes around comes around!" The teacher tapped the pointer and said loudly, "When these students return, the classroom atmosphere will be even better!"

"You should all study hard too. If you can't pass the exams better than those who are going to jail, how can you face your parents?"

On Wednesday afternoon, eight underage students returned to their respective classes, silently enduring the scrutinizing or mocking gazes.

When Dong Yuan returned to Class 1, he was noticeably thinner, looking haggard as if he had been sent off to do hard labor overnight.

It was English class when he returned, and the female teacher, who had always been kind, had been made to cry by his smoking in class before.

"Dong Yuan, please stand up and read this passage."

He froze for a moment, still not used to following the rules of paying attention in class.

The English teacher said bluntly, "Your situation is known throughout the school, and I’ve heard you’ll be making a public apology during the flag-raising ceremony next Monday."

"The teacher’s giving you a chance to catch up and actually learn English. You don’t want that?"

Although Dong Yuan was already in the ninth grade, he hadn't sat through an entire class in two or three years. At this moment, he subconsciously stood up, with the pressure marks of handcuffs still lingering on his wrists.

He flipped through the pages in a panic, licked his lips, and didn't even know how to read the text aloud.

This honors class was only possible because his father paid to get him in. He had failed several monthly exams, and if it weren’t for the bribes his father gave the homeroom teacher, he wouldn’t have been able to stay.

The English teacher called on the class representative to read, but didn't let him sit down.

"She’ll read a sentence, and you’ll repeat it after her."

"Dong Yuan, it’s never too late to change your ways." The teacher said with a compassionate expression. "By next month’s exam, your English should show some improvement, right?"

The class representative read the English text fluently, while Dong Yuan followed along awkwardly, forced to repeat each sentence.

He felt like the knowledge and words were being forced into his brain.

He couldn't handle it; this stuff made him feel like he was allergic, but he had no choice.

After English class, it was time for math, and the next teacher did the same thing—calling Dong Yuan to the front to solve a problem, clearly enjoying his discomfort.

Dong Yuan hadn’t been like this before.

He was arrogant and domineering, backed by older gang members outside of school. He would leave the classroom in the middle of a lesson without saying a word, going wherever he pleased.

The knowledge that everyone else had to learn was like rotten garbage to him.

The school rules that everyone followed were, to him, childish and not worth mentioning.

But today, Wednesday, all the retribution came at once.

The math teacher was a kind-hearted person who had been angered several times by the blank papers Dong Yuan had submitted. Today, he made Dong Yuan come to the front to solve a problem.

Seeing that Dong Yuan didn’t even know how to combine like terms, the teacher started from the basics, explaining everything step by step.

"If there’s any word you don’t understand, just let me know."

Dong Yuan panicked, glancing around to see that every pair of eyes in the room was fixed on him.

He didn’t want to solve the problem; he wanted to escape, to transfer to a place where no one knew him or his shameful secrets.

But the agreement had been signed, and now that he was sixteen, everything had legal consequences.

He was going crazy.

"Dong Yuan, you need to study properly. It’s not too late to start now," the math teacher said gently. "Which part of the problem don’t you understand?"

Dong Yuan opened his eyes wide and looked at the problem again and again.

He made a sound like a sob, unable to admit that he didn’t recognize any of the symbols, and too embarrassed to ask for help. He stood at the front of the class, holding the chalk like someone who had no idea what to do next.

Why, why did everyone else understand this stuff? Why did he have to study when no one else seemed to struggle like him?!

"Dong Yuan?"

Before the math teacher could say any more words of encouragement, the student burst into a sharp cry, covered his face, and rushed out of the classroom.

All the students in the class silently watched him leave, and someone couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Sigh, so if your grades aren't up to par, this experimental class can really be tough," the math teacher said with a regretful shrug. "Let's continue. Hu Yingxing, you answer this question."

The boy who was called quickly stood up, wrote down the solution, and gave the correct answer without hesitation. After receiving the teacher's approval, he sat down again.

As he made his way back to his seat, he glanced at Tang Zhi.

Tang Zhi gave him a small, reassuring smile.

It was said that from Wednesday to Friday, students in several classes experienced various levels of mental breakdowns.

Some sat frozen for hours, worrying their classmates that they might be dead.

Others, while doing homework, realized they had no clue what they were doing and started banging their heads on the desk, desperate to escape the frustration.

Many more refused to go to school, rejecting classes and studies altogether, which directly triggered their already anxious parents.

No classes?! If you don't attend class, you're going to jail! If you don't do your homework, you're going to jail! Jail, people!! If you don't study properly now, your whole family might as well pack it in!

The Dong family parents couldn't take it anymore and made the toughest decision.

They rented an unused classroom and hired a few teachers to tutor the eight students involved every weekend.

Then came the real test—comprehensive exams to assess their progress.

Eight students were surrounded by parents during a test on the weekend.

There was no chance to cheat, and the questions came straight from the teachers—there were no answers online.

From seventh grade to twelfth grade, they had to take all the tests.

The parents were anxious, but held out a small hope.

"Aim for the highest score you can—this is not the time to hold back!"

"You used to slack off and treat exams like a joke, but now you need to get serious—got it?!"

As the English listening section started, everyone began to panic.

None of the students understood a word, and some gave up, putting down their pens and rubbing their faces.

Some of the sixteen parents were still going over the waiver, but when they saw what was happening, they immediately poured hot water and took their blood pressure meds.

"Can't you answer even one question?"

"Not a single question?!"